Kent ISD — The intermediate school district has “a good thing going,” said new Superintendent Ron Gorman, so the move from his old office to his new one across the hall is pretty much the biggest change he has planned for his first year.
“One of the promises that we made to the board was we want to keep the good work going,” said Gorman, who served as the Kent ISD assistant superintendent of instructional services for the past two years.
“I don’t think this organization at this time needs to do a 180 … That doesn’t mean that we’re going to stop listening to our stakeholders … and if for whatever reason things are not moving in the right direction, then we need to make modifications.”
“I feel like we can only get better with the talented team that we have, and I’m just incredibly appreciative that I have the opportunity to work with what I think are some of the best colleagues in the state.”
– Kent ISD Superintendent Ron Gorman
Gorman has made some tweaks in leadership roles, including hiring former East Grand Rapids Assistant Superintendent Jenny Fee. But for now, he said he is following the advice of his past mentors that making huge decisions at the beginning of your first year “would be incredibly foolish.”
“My priorities for this upcoming school year are to be as visible as possible to get into all of our programs,” Gorman said.
Along with visiting Kent ISD Special Education Center programs, Early Childhood programs and the Kent Career Tech Center, he also plans to visit local school districts.
“That’s so important,” Gorman said of being visible and accessible. “People want to be heard. I think people want to see the leader of the organization. I’ve always had an open door policy and I always will.”
A Skill for Building Relationships
Throughout his 27 years in education, Gorman said one of his greatest strengths has been his ability to build relationships with students. That skill comes from starting his education career as a second-grade teacher at the former Eastern Elementary School in Grand Rapids Public Schools.
“I’ve been very intentional about connecting with students and hearing their authentic voices,” Gorman said. “Far too often, adults are speaking for students, and we need to hear about the high-school experience, the elementary-school experience, the middle-school experience from students if we ever want to make it better.”
Former Superintendent Ron Koehler said he was excited to “pass the baton” over to Gorman, who has a strong background in working with economically disadvantaged and minority groups.
“Dr. Ron Gorman brings a wealth of experience and years of knowledge of public schools to his new position,” said Kent ISD School Board President Andrea Haidle, stating that he has spent the last two years thoroughly learning about and understanding the organization.
“The board is looking forward to a collaborative relationship with Dr. Gorman to continue to ensure that we do ‘lead learning’ for all of the schools within the ISD.”
Non-negotiable: Staying Connected to Students
Gorman’s reputation for building bonds with students led to Koehler approaching him about developing a forum for students to freely discuss issues they were seeing and experiencing. Gorman started the Kent ISD Student Leadership Community two years ago with student representation from the county’s 20 public schools, charter schools and the homeschool program.
A non-negotiable for Gorman as superintendent is continuing his leadership role with the Student Leadership Community.
“For me, it is the opportunity to do what brought me into this profession,” he said. “Sometimes your career moves in a direction where you move further and further away from students, but the Leadership Student Community is a wonderful opportunity for me to continue (connecting with students).”
Kent ISD has worked to elevate student voice through other initiatives as well. The Kent ISD MI Student Voice perception survey has had more than 100 districts statewide participate, with a parent and staff survey piloted last school year. The MI Student Voice survey measures students’ school experiences in the areas of engagement, social-emotional learning and belonging (equity and inclusion).
Listen. Learn. Lead: State of the Student, an annual event hosted by the Student Leadership Community, focuses on initiatives happening in Kent County schools. In the program, students share their perspectives and educational experiences. Gorman said this fall’s event will be mostly student-driven with a student emcee and students leading panel discussions.
Gorman said he wants to provide a platform for the students because “they’re absolutely fantastic. … For whatever reason, this generation of students seems to get a bad rap.”
He said people often comment about how teenagers are always on their devices and don’t know how to engage, but he has seen the opposite.
“I’ve seen students who absolutely know how to engage, who are receptive to meeting with students from other school districts who may have different experiences. I think the future is incredibly bright,” Gorman said. “And this generation, they seem to really care about the feelings of others and they – at least with our student group — want to advocate for all students in the county and not just the students in their school district.”
Moving Forward
Gorman said he is “incredibly” proud of the work the Kent ISD team has done to advocate for student voice, mental health and for helping people become educators through the West Michigan Teacher Collaborative.
The state’s 2025 budget earmarked $9 million to the WMTC to continue development of the program and provide support to teachers across West Michigan. The budget also provides $500,000 to the MI Student Voice survey to support implementation.
“Far too often, adults are speaking for students, and we need to hear about the high school experience, the elementary school experience, the middle school experience from students if we ever want to make it better.”
– Kent ISD Superintendent Ron Gorman
Another area of focus, Gorman said, is school funding. Kent ISD will continue to advocate for more equitable funding for its school districts.
“We need to continue to get more school funding,” Gorman said, adding that it is important to continue to have strong relationships and open dialog with state legislators. “As it relates to increases, we’re not near the top as you look at Michigan nationally. So we need to get those increases to support the students of Michigan, but specifically Kent County.”
Down the road, Kent ISD will also need to revisit its three-year strategic plan, put in place in 2022. But for now, Gorman said he is happy to keep the momentum of the “great work” that is taking place at Kent ISD.
“I’m just incredibly excited,” Gorman said. “I can’t believe how quickly two years have gone by in my previous role, and I can’t even articulate how great this organization is.
“I feel like we can only get better with the talented team that we have and I’m just incredibly appreciative that I have the opportunity to work with what I think are some of the best colleagues in the state.”
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